MORTON — District 709’s proposed 2014-15 budget now has an additional $6.1 million in its operations and maintenance fund.

School Board members approved interfund transfers Tuesday that moved $3 million from the education fund and $3.1 million from the working cash fund into the operations and maintenance fund.

“We have substantial (reserves) in the education and working cash funds. We need money for facilities,” said Superintendent Lindsey Hall.

The most probable major uses for the transferred money, she said, are paying for the newly installed heating system and possible outdoor athletic facility improvements at Morton High School, and completing the purchase of 125 acres of vacant land off Fourth Avenue.

The district has paid for half of the $3.2 million heating system project and it owes $3 million on the $4.4 million cost of the land. It has another four years to pay for the land.

Budget approval is scheduled for Sept. 16. A public hearing on the budget also will be held that night. The budget is on display at the district office at 1050 S. Fourth Ave.

Also Tuesday:

■ Assistant Superintendent Craig Smock said sixth-day attendance counts taken Tuesday show the K-12 district has 2,865 students. That’s 31 fewer students than last year at this time.

“It’s a negligible change,” Hall said.

High school enrollment is 904 students, a drop of 19. Morton Junior High School has 435 students, 10 more than last year.

Last year’s kindergarden class of 207 students has become a first-grade class of 230 students.

■ Hall said four meetings plus a summary meeting are planned in the revived 709Connect community engagement initiative that will focus on the district’s facilities needs.

“We’re looking at a mid-October kickoff,” she said.

Board member Tom Neeley said extending the lifespan of the district’s current buildings should be discussed at the meetings in addition to two long-term options recommended by a facilities advisory committes.

The options are building a new high school or a new grades 5-8 or 6-8 middle school. If there’s a new high school, the middle school would move into the current high school.

Hall said the district also plans to gather public input through online tools like a survey.

Steve Stein can be reached at 686-3114 or stevestein21@yahoo.com. Read his Stein Time blog on pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @SpartanSteve.